Jason Kamilar publishes study on climate and African mammals

Oct 14, 2016

Jason Kamilar, Curator of Primates, and colleagues have published a study in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B on the effect of climate and the distribution of mammals in Africa. Based on three groups, carivorans, primates, and ungulates (hoofed mammals), the study statistically analyzed the relative influence of climate in modern, mid-Holocene (~6,000 years ago), and Last Glacial Maximum (~22,000 years ago) times. Their finding that past climates are more important than modern climate to the structure of mammal communities implies either that these communities have failed to move with their preferred climate or that they are either ecologically flexible enough to persist with changing climate. Read more. (10/14/16)